


Amongst these books

by ddugeun



Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bookstore, Alternate Universe - Tattoos, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-26
Updated: 2014-08-26
Packaged: 2018-02-14 22:45:23
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,147
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2205825
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ddugeun/pseuds/ddugeun
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He was around the same age as Haru, yet he was all tight fitting jeans and band shirts, leather jackets, Chuck Taylor’s and - oh god, what was a lip ring?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Amongst these books

**Author's Note:**

> I think about tattooed!Rin + piercings a lot.  
> I also think about bookworm!Haru a lot too.
> 
> This is a (second) re-write of an old fic, but they've both been deleted for reasons q_p  
> Please excuse any mistakes in this, I wrote this when I was half asleep and I'm still trying to figure out how to write their personalities correctly in my fics. But Haru is purposely a little more responsive than usual for the sake of the AU.
> 
> Any feedback at all would be greatly appreciated! enjoy n_n ♡

Haru sat in a bored silence behind the wooden counter, one elbow resting on the worn surface and his chin propped by his palm. His other hand loosely held a red pen, and was tapping it along with the constant ticking of the large grandfather clock which stood at the far corner of the shop; blocked from view by the well-stocked book shelves.

Haru let out a sigh and looked around the dim room, his eyes scanning over what seemed like endless rows of books. He stared blankly, since his mind already knew the shop like the back of his hand. Nothing new had happened to the tiny shop recently.

As it had been for the past couple of days, it was empty. 4:45pm - nearly closing time - and no one, not _one_ human being, had stepped through the door all day.

It was embarrassing.

He groaned and let his head fall from his hand and onto the countertop theatrically. Haru groaned into the scratched wood, grabbed a fist full of his black hair and tugged at it in frustration. He felt his glasses pushing against the bridge of his nose uncomfortably, but he didn’t care.

Business was slow – actually, scratch that, it was almost completely non-existent - and he was doomed by looming bills, debts, fees and invoices to pay.

The grandfather clock carried on ticking, and Haru carried on questioning his life choices.

He’d had so many opportunities to go into the doctoral family business, but – stupidly – he had decided that instead of studying books about the human body, he enjoyed himself far more in a fantasy world of fiction.

He pushed himself up again, his pale forearms contrasted with his dark chequered shirt as he propped both his elbows back onto the counter.

“This is pathetic,” he moaned into the stale bookshop’s air, “I don’t have to be sat here feeling sorry for myself.”

He breathed out, blowing a piece of his overgrown hair out of his eye, when the little bell above the door chimed; someone had arrived.

A customer had arrived!

Haru stood up so fast that his stool toppled over backward. He plastered a small (albeit more of a grimace) smile on his tired face and his vibrant blue eyes zoned in on the figure coming through the door.

Alas, the person he clapped eyes on seemingly wasn’t a promising customer.

 

He was around the same age as Haru, yet he was all tight fitting jeans and band shirts, leather jackets, Chuck Taylor’s and - oh god, what was a _lip ring_?

His bright red hair was messy and slightly too long, thin strands coming over his face, as if he’d just rolled out of bed. The guy looked around briefly, mouth slightly agape as his eyes traced over the old and dusty bookcases.

“Hi.” Haru greeted him hesitantly, trying to sound a little bit enthusiastic. Haru had come into contact with his type before; immature teenagers with no point in being here, other than to laugh at how everything was ‘ancient’ and left the store sneering stupidly and yelling loudly.

The customer turned around and pushed the door softly to a close, his red eyes finally met Haru’s gaze and nodded his head back in greeting, followed by a simple: “Yo.”

The customer walked up the counter, his slightly rolled up jacket sleeves revealed tattoos inked onto the pale skin. Haru was, unfortunately, fascinated by tattoos. As the customer approached, he also noticed more tattoos peeking up just above the guys v-neck band t-shirt. Dark swirly lines and red petals merged together flawlessly. From what he could make out, the guy also had full sleeve tattoos on both arms; a mix of bold strokes, thin lines and foreign words.

“How may I help you?” Haru asked, reluctantly looking away from the tattoos. He remembered his manners though, as he turned around to pick up the discarded stool. Even though this boy looked like a thug straight out of an American film, he had to at least pretend he cared about the customer’s queries.

He didn’t notice the customer’s eyebrows raise slightly as he placed the stool firming back on its four legs.

“I was looking for a book to read.” the guy replied slowly, his voice low and soft and _totally_ notwhat Haru was expecting.

Haru resisted the urge to scoff, but felt a small shiver run up his spine, “You’ve come to the right place then, this being a bookstore and all.”

When Haru glanced back at the guy, he saw him tentatively running his fingertips along the spines of the books beside the counter. The guy’s eyes were slightly glossy, mouth open just a tad and one word came to Haru’s mind: Passion.

And, _oh_.

This guy wasn’t here to be childish and crude. He actually _liked_ books.

Haru changed his tune, straightening up and cleared his throat, “Are you looking for anything in particular?”

“Hmm,” the guy paused and stopped walking, having reached the end of the bookcase and let his hand drop back down to his side, “Depends.”

The words Haru wanted to say were stuck in his throat, as he noticed even more enticing lines and patterns up the side of the guy’s neck.

He let out a shaky breath before speaking, “Depends on what, exactly?” Haru questioned, walking around the side of the counter and leant his hip against it, folding his arms across his chest.

“On what I feel like reading.” he replied bluntly as he scanned the shop again.

Haru was getting slightly irritated by the lack of response, how was he supposed to help this guy if he wasn’t giving proper answers? He adjusted the sleeves of his blue checked shirt in an irritated manner, “And what exactly do you feel like reading, sir?”

The guy shrugged, a slight squeaking of his leather jacket filled the quiet shop, “Dunno.”

Haru rolled his eyes and stood up straight again, pulling his v-neck sweater down by the hem and pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose in a nervous gesture. He began to walk towards the end of the bookshelf and the customer. And then he carried on straight past him to search for the book he was thinking of.

 

Haru spotted it on the second shelf and grabbed it, brushing over the cover to get rid of the thin film of dust. He walked back towards the guy, stopping next to him to hand him the book before carrying on to stand behind the counter.

The guy looked down at the book in his hands and back up to Haru, lips turned upwards slightly, “Pride and Prejudice?”

Haru shrugged, trying _so_ hard to ignore the pierced lip, “It’s a classic.”

The guy huffs and Haru could almost mistake it as a laugh, “It’s boring and pretentious.” there was a pause where Haru tried to think of a comeback, but the guy beat him to it: “I mean, Darcy’s a dick and that Bennett chick’s an idiot for falling for him.” the customer smiled warmly, despite his brash words, and there was a pause afterwards.

“Yet it’s one of my favourites.” the guy finished, his cheeks turning a soft pink in embarrassment as it was clearly one of his guilty pleasures. “My old roommate used to make me read his collection of British Literature with him, and I guess this book kinda stuck with me.”

Haru couldn’t help but let his lips tilt upwards. The guy stood in front of him, all leather jackets and tattoos and a faint smudge of eyeliner, was blushing and holding an old copy of Pride and Prejudice. Something about the image got Haru’s heart beating a little faster.

Haru opened his mouth to say something, but decided against it and just nodded, “Bring it here then, so I can scan it in.”

The guy complied, moving to stand directly opposite Haru and dropped the book onto the counter, sliding it towards him using his index and middle finger. Haru placed his palm on the book cover and  flipped it over, reading the ISBN and barcode on the back. He pressed a few buttons on the cash register, waiting for the ancient machine to spit out the little tray underneath.

“That’ll be 3,000 Yen, exactly, please.” Haru groped under the counter for a plastic bag, eyes following the customer’s hand as he pulled out his wallet from his back pocket in his jeans.

The guy fingered through his wallet, unzipping the tiny change pocket, and patted the rest of his jean pockets, he went to rifle through the inside pockets of his jacket when Haru stopped him.

A small cough ricocheted off the tiny shop’s walls.

“Shit,” the guy muttered.

Haru looked up at him to see the guy looking, once again, in his wallet, “I’m – uh – a bit short.”

Raising an eyebrow, Haru replied, “By how much?”

“Uh,” he bit his lip, scrunching up his nose slightly in embarrassment, “About 1,300 Yen.”

“Oh.” Haru replied bluntly. He glanced at the guy and back at the bag in his hand with the book inside, “You can pay me back tomorrow, Mr...?”

“Matsuoka,” he paused, seemingly hesitant, “Rin.” he finished, offering a sheepish smile afterwards.

It was Haru’s turn to bite his lip, suddenly feeling a little less ashamed of his own girly name. “Okay then, Matsuoka, you can pay me back the 1,300 Yen tomorrow.”

“What? Are you sure?” Rin asked, eyebrows furrowed.

“Right now I am, yes.” Haru replied, eyes flickering to the exposed tattoos littered around Rin’s skin.

Rin smirked and leaned forward slightly, placing 1,700 Yen on the counter, “How do you know that I’m not going to take the book and not pay you the rest, _Nanase_?”

Haru was taken off guard, wondering why the guy knew his name; then realised the small name badge pinned to his v-neck sweater.

“Well, if that’s the case…” Haru began and started to move the bag to underneath the counter.

“But I guess you’re just going to have to trust me.” Rin cut in. He leant over the counter even further and snatched the bag out of Haru’s hands and ran out of the shop, yelling, “See you tomorrow!” over his shoulder.

Haru’s eyes widened and he opened his mouth to call after Rin just as the door slid shut, the bell’s tinkle echoing around the shop. Haru exhaled slowly and closed his mouth, falling back to sit on the stool.

He smiled.

//

Haru found himself the next day in exactly the same position he was before; sitting on his stool in an empty shop, listening to the dull ticking of the grandfather clock. He glanced at his watch and decided that there was no point in waiting any more when he could easily just go upstairs to the apartment above and fall into his bed.

 

For some reason (Haru refused to believe the reason though) he’d decided to put a little effort into what he looked like today. Opting for contacts instead of his overly large thick rimmed glasses, and swapping his rather dorky v-neck sweater and shirt combo for a plain white shirt and tight black trousers. The reason - despite Haru’s inner battle and denial - was because he wanted to look good for Rin. He wasn’t really expecting anything to come from it, but he felt a little intimidated by the bold fashion statements that Rin brought to the shop.

It was the same time as yesterday that Rin had come through the door. Haru hadn’t really had much to think about today. His mind had wandered too many times to bright red hair and beautiful tattoos and how ridiculously irritating and yet _lovely_ Rin had been.

But of course, Rin wasn’t going to come back. Rin, with his awfully tight skinny jeans and his delicate and pale skin littered with ink and his soft but confident voice, was not coming back.

Cursing himself and feeling more than a little stupid, Haru went to stand up when the bell above the door chimed, and Rin strutted in with a smirk. He walked straight up to the counter, placing both palms on the surface and grinned, tilting his head to the left slightly. Haru _really_ tried to ignore the light reflecting off the many piercings on Rin’s ear.

Haru almost wanted to laugh in amusement at how wrong he had been. He glanced down at Rin’s hands, long thin fingers with silver rings on most of them along with little black inked symbols and lines circling around his wrists.

“Right, I have 1,700 Yen to my name, and I was wondering whether I could buy you a drink instead?” Rin looked straight at Haru, eyes hopeful.

There was a pause before Haru nodded earnestly. His eyes met Rin’s red ones, “Deal.”

 


End file.
